REPORT  e-F  TIIE  EXECUTIVE-- COMMITTEE 


6g 


nflteded,  shall  be  used  by  the  said  board  of  regents  for  the  complq/ion 
ano^quipment  of  such  building. 

Sec^uon  3.  This  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force  from  aj^l  after 
its  pas^^e  and  publication 

This  13^11  had  many  warm  friends  in  the  legi^P&ture,  and 
several  elaborate  arguments  in  its  favor  wer«nade  before 
the  senate  committee  on  education,  and  the  joint  commit- 
tee on  retrenchment  anc\  reform.  It  evinced,  however 


:or 


that  the  state  unWersity 
ance  of  a costlyNcharadt 
trembling  in  the  balance 
give  way  to  the  unnrer^ity’s 
pressing  demands.  The 
was,  n^evertheless^satisfac 


s m urgent  ufeed  of  other  assist- 
and  ttys  library  bill,  after 
som^weeks,  was  allowed  to 
her  and  perhaps  mor 
esukr  of  the  winter’s  campaign 
to  the  Society,  for  progres 
distinctly  made ; the  needs  of 
£ere  canvassed  thoroughly, 


towards  a new  building  w 
the  library  in  this  dii^ft 

and  found  to  be  actefal,  an  1 t^a  only  argument  we  heard 
advanced  against  a>lew  strij?ture\t  the  present  time  was 

The  committee  is  clearly  of 
Df  the  Society  advances  with 


one  of  financial  o^pediency.i 
the  opinion  th^r  the  cause 
each  fresh  campaign  for  a m 


w building,  Vjd  that  the  time 
is  now  nol^ar  distant  whenfits  wishes  in  Ibis  respect  will 
be  fully  jnet  by  the  legislature,  and  these  priceless  collec- 
tions given  a permanent  fire-proof  home\worthy  of 
then^and  of  the  commonwealth  in  whose  seWice  the 
Society  has  zealously  been  engaged  for  upwards  forty 
yjKrs. 

On  behalf  of  the  Executive  Committee, 

Keuben  G.  Thwaites, 
Corresponding  Secretary . 


70 


WISCONSIN  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 


PREHISTORIC  POTTERY -MIDDLE  MISSISSIPPI 
VALLEY. 


BY  JAMES  DAVIE  BUTLER,  LL.  D. 

[Address  delivered  at  the  Forty- First  Annual  Meeting  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of 
Wisconsin,  December  14,  1693.] 

t 

The  State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin  has  just 
added  to  its  museum  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  specimens 
of  prehistoric  pottery.  Its  purchase  of  the  Perkins  col- 
lection of  copper  implements,  in  1875,  rendered  the  Society 
easily  first  in  that  department  of  antiques.  Nor  was  it  far 
behind  in  the  line  of  Indian  curiosities, -gathered  by  Gov- 
ernor Doty,  and  in  relics  of  the  stone  age.  The  treasures 
of  the  ceramic  art  just  now  acquired  form  a new7  departure, 
and  round  up  the  circle  of  its  exhibits.  They  are  also 
more  suited  to  spectacular  display  than  any  species  of 
aboriginal  remains  which  it  has  hitherto  shown. 

The  new  treasure- trove  consists  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty-four  pieces.  They  were  all  discovered  in  southeast- 
ern Missouri  or  northeastern  Arkansas,  in  the  Missouri 
counties  of  Scott,  Mississippi,  and  New  Madrid,  and  in 
Cross  and  Poinsett  counties  in  Arkansas.  All  wTere  found 
in  graves  of  a depth  of  from  two  to  five  feet.  They  had 
usually  been  placed  one  each  side  of  a skull.  In  trans- 
atlantic cemeteries  similar  vessels,  when  buried  with  the 
dead,  were  often  purposely  broken,  either  as  a token  of 
grief  or  to  make  them  valueless  in  the  eyes  of  grave- 
robbers.  But  these  Mississippi  memorials  were  laid  in  the 
dust  unbroken,  and  probably  contained  food  or  drink.  In- 
deed, wdien  exhumed,  so  many  of  them  were  still  whole, 
that  only  about  ten  per  cent  of  the  number  needed  to  have 
their  fragments  glued  together. 


PREHISTORIC  POTTERY. 


71 


The  material  is  clay  of  various  colors,  but  usually 
blackish.  It  is  tempered  with  bits  of  shell,  which  often 
give  it  a pepper-and-salt  appearance,  the  pepper  predomi- 
nating. All  the  articles  are  hand-made— showing  no  trace 
of  any  wheel  manufacture,  but  they  are  moulded  in  forms 
symmetrical  and  sometimes  of  classic  elegance.  None  of 
this  handiwork  indicates  acquaintance  with  the  art  of  glaz- 
ing _ though  some  articles  were  rubbed  smooth  and  red- 
dened  with  ochre,  or  veneered  with  a different  variety  of 
nT  day.  Not  a few,  in  the  shape  of  gourds  or  squashes,  would 
" seem  to  have  been  modeled  and  shaped  on  these  natural 
moulds.  Others  show  the  forms  of  mud  turtles,  fishes,  and 
/ various  animals.  A few  imitate  the  human  figure.  One 
female,  kneeling  low,  appears  to  be  in  an  attitude  and  with 
a look  of  humble  but  earnest  supplication. 

The  variety  in  form,  size,  and  fashion  is  very  considerable. 
There  are  shallow  or  wide-mouthed  vessels  which  we  term 
pans,  bowls,  basins,  porringers,  and  cups,  according  to  size 
and  shape.  One,  seemingly  copied  from  a shell,  has  a nose 
like  a butter-boat.  Where  the  mouths  are  somewhat  nar- 
rower, we  may  call  them  po,ts,  some  of  which  would  hold  a 
pailful.  Some  pots  have  projections  on  their  rims,  or  a sort 
of  ears,  through  which  thongs  would  slip  to  suspend  them 
over  a fire  or  elsewhere.  Others  run  up  in  the  style  of  long- 
necked birds,  which  serve  as  handles.  The  articles  which 
are  most  narrow-mouthed,  it  is  natural  to  call  bottles.  Of 
these  some  are  as  big-bellied  as  demijohns,  while  others 
are  so  slender  that  their  bodies  have  only  two  or  three  times 
the  diameter  of  their  necks.  At  the  base  the  bottles  are 
V^either  flattened,  or  they  stand  on  three  legs.  When  a neck 
supports  the  head  of  an  animal,  the  animal  s mouth  some- 
times forms  the  bottle  mouth,  but  at  other  times  that  ori- 
~^fice  is  in  the  back  of  the  animal’s  head.  The  ears  of  the 
human  heads  were  pierced  as  if  for  ear-rings. 

It  will  be  observed  that  many  styles  of  archaic  pottery 
have  no  representatives  in  the  collection  we  have  now  ac- 
quired. The  coil  pattern,  for  instance,  so  common  further 
south  and  east,  has  here  no  existence.  In  this  variety,  the 


72 


WISCONSIN  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 


clay  long  drawn  out  into  a rope  and  rolled  round,  was  then 
bent  into  circular  layers,  so  as  to  form  a base,  then  swelling 
sides,  and  then  often  the  contracted  neck  of  a jar  or  bottle. 

A large  number  of  our  acquisitions  bear  some  sort  of  or- 
nament, as  swelling  bosses;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  sunken 
dimples,  a sort  of  repousse  work  produced  by  the  artist’s 
finger  pressing  the  soft  material  from  without  or  from 
within,  Other  styles  of  decoration  are  bits  of  clay  stuck 
on  outside  here  and  there,  like  spit-balls.  Sometimes  rims 
are  indented  so  as  to  resemble  twisted  cords  or  the  links 
of  a chain.  At  other  times,  there  are  lines  straight  or 
curved,  or  rising  like  the  rafters  of  a house.  But  a ma- 
jority of  the  specimens  are  totally  unornamented.  These 
relics  devoid  of  ornament,  one  is  at  first  inclined  to  ascribe 
to  the  most  archaic  era  of  the  art.  It  is  not,  however,  to 
be  forgotten  that  bones  of  the  mastodon  — an  animal  now 
extinct  — have  been  found  carved  with  representations  of 
hunting  that  animal,  a find  which  argues  tha*  no  art  is 
more  ancient  than  the  t te  for  ornament. 

What  was  the  beginning  of  the  potter’s  art?  is  a natural 
question.  Herodotus  tells  a story  concerning  a Scythian 
custom,  which  may  throw  light  on  the  invention  of  pottery. 
That  people  having  killed  an  ox,  would  use  his  stomach  as  a 
caldron  for  boiling  his  flesh.  Hung  beneath  a tripod  and 
high  over  a fire,  such  a kettle  of  green  tripe  would  stand 
much  heat  while  the  flesh  was  boiling.  Now  and  then, 
however,  it  must  burn  through.  What  more  natural  than 
to  stop  leaks  with  the  clay  on  which  it  may  be  the  fire  had 
itself  been  kindled?  It  is  the  first  step  that  costs.  After 
one  clod  had  been  stuck  on,  the  whole  stomach  would  be 
speedily  covered  with  such  fire-fenders,  and  at  the  next 
step  would  be  discarded  altogether  when  the  clay  pot  was 
once  well-baked,  or  rather  would  perish  in  the  baking. 
Behold  the  possible  genesis  of  prehistoric  pottery. 

American  archaeologists  hold  that  our  pottery  origin- 
ated, relatively  speaking,  earlier  than  that  of  Egypt.  In 
saying  “relatively  speaking,”  they  have  reference  to  the 
fact  that  no  Egyptian  pottery  is  older  than  alphabetic 


PREHISTORIC  POTTERY. 


73 


writing  in  the  land  of  the  Nile,  while  all  our  relics  of  that 
sort  were  fashioned  among  peoples  who  had  not  yet  in- 
vented any  sort  of_A.  B.  C/s.  Our  handiwork  seems  then 
to  run  back  to  an  earlier  stage  of  development  than  the 
earliest  Egyptian  survivals. 

The  lessons  we  shall  learn  from  our  new  discoveries  of 
primeval  art,  it  is  impossible  to  foresee.  Varieties  in  the 
fashion  of  vessels  may  demonstrate  the  lines  of  demarca- 
tion between  tribe  and  tribe  — each  fish,  bird,  or  animal, 
may  give  us  a clue  to  the  emblem' or  totem  distinguishing 
one  clan  from  another.  Ornamental  lines  which  we  at  first 
ascribe  to  capricious  fancy  may  at  length  turn  out  to  be 
significant,  each  one.  of  some  real  fact. 

As  a possible  aid  to  future  interpretations  of  what  is  as  yet 
hieroglyphical,  we  have  procured  from  William  J.  Seever, 
of  St.  Louis,  from  whom  our  purchase  was  made,  both  a gen- 
eral description  of  the  St.  Francis  valley,  the  head-centre 
of  mound  -.builder  burials,  and  a list  of  all  the  several 
localities  there  in  which  our  r*Aics  were  from,  first  to 
last  gathered  up.  This  article,  appended  to  the  present 
paper,  has  appeared  indispensable  for  the  profitable  study 
of  the  collection  nowT  garnered  in  our  museum.  It  will 
also  be  invaluable  as  a guide  in  making  and  appreciating 
further  researches. 

My  own  hope  is  sanguine,  that  within  a decade  our 
museum,  will  be  enriched  — thanks  to  our  collections  from 
states  south  and  west  — with  a prehistoric  treasure-trove 
of  Wisconsin  pottery.  No  specimen  of  that  sort  has  in- 
deed hitherto  come  into  our  possession,  But  we  know 
that  some  of  them  exist,  indeed  we  have  seen  and  handled 
them.  Among  the  fifty  thousand  visitors  who  annually  wTalk 
through  our  show-room  we  trust  that  some,  now  unknown 
to  us,  will  prove  to  be  owners  of  these  rarities,  and  will 
be  disposed  to  place  them  where  they  will  do  most  good. 
In  juxtaposition  with  types  from  a distance  — each  class 
lending  and  borrowing  light  by  mutual  reflection  — they 
will  aid,  more  than  can  be  foreseen,  comparative  research 
"in  the  dark  backward  and  abysm  of  time.” 


[Paper  submitted  at  tbe  Forty  First  Annual  Meeting  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of 
Wisconsin,  December  14,  1893.1 

From  the  city  of  Cape  Girardeau  on  the  Mississippi 
river,  a well  defined  line  of  bluffs  extends  in  a general 
southwesterly  direction  across  the  corner  of  the  state  of 
Missouri,  and  on  into  Arkansas.  This  line  of  bluffs  forms 
the  boundary  between  the  high  and  low  lands  of  Missouri 
and  Arkansas.  An  offshoot  called  Crawley’s  ridge  sets  out 
in  Stoddard  county,  Mo.,  passing  through  the  Missouri 
counties  of  Stoddard  and  Butler,  and  continuing  through 
Arkansas  into  Clay,  Green,  Craighead,  Poinsett,  Cross, 
St.  Francis,  Lee,  and  Phillip  counties,  terminating  near 
the  city  of  Helena,  just  below  the  mouth  of  St.  Fran- 
cis river.  This  ridge  forms  the  watershed  of  the  St.  Fran- 
cis and  White  rivers,  and  is  the  dividing  line  between  the 
valleys  of  these  two  streams.  The  region  to  the  east  and 
north  of  Crawley’s  ridge  is  termed  the  Swamp  ridge  of 
Missouri  and  Arkansas.  It  attains  in  places  a width  of 
forty  miles,  and  a length  north  and  south  of  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  miles.  The  general  surface  is  but  little 
above  the  mean  stage  of  water  in  the  Mississippi  river, 
and  is  yearly  subject  to  overflow. 

It  is  in  this  valley,  principally  along  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi,  St.  Francis,  and  Little  rivers  — the  two  latter 
of  which  extend  through  it  from  north  to  south  — that  the 
most  extensive  remains  of  the  mound  builders  are  found. 
On  the  banks  of  the  St.  Francis  and  its  tributaries,  at  a 
distance  of  every  few  miles,  are  found  large  groups  of 
mounds  which  were  once  the  seats  of  an  extensive  popu- 
lation. Three,  four,  and  often  a dozen  or  more  mounds 


